PAX East returned as an in-person gaming convention this year. In previous years, this event was North America’s largest gaming convention, even surpassing its sister show PAX West. While the shows had been on hiatus since the pandemic lockdowns of 2020, PAX East returned to Boston over the weekend with a fairly healthy attendance — and there were plenty of games on display as well.
At the show this year, I got to play several games that will be ones to watch for later in 2022 and in early 2023. In the list below you’ll find a quick rundown of games that stood out at PAX East 2022, including the next Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles game, the peculiar platforming game Tinykin, the Souls-like parody The Last Hero of Nostalgaia, and the social satire adventure game The Last Worker.
These were the 13 games that showed great promise across the days of PAX East 2022.
Evil West
Developer: Flying Wild Hog | Release Date: TBD 2022
You’ll be facing vampires and demons in this supernatural-infused Wild West shooter.
Flying Wild Hog/Focus Interactive Games
Developer Flying Wild Hog honed its craft for fast-paced action gameplay with the Shadow Warrior reboot trilogy, and now it’s taking that know-how to the Wild West with the action-horror game Evil West.
With the game set in a supernatural Wild West, you play as a vampire-hunting bounty hunter who uses classic cowboy weaponry and advanced gadgets to slay demons of the night. Evil West is a third-person shooter that deftly blends shooting gameplay and melee combat, which opens up slick moments where you can disarm enemies and launch demons into the air with ease.
This game came out of nowhere for me, and I like its pulp-style horror take on the Wild West. I’m very interested in seeing more of it later this year.
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder’s Revenge
Developer: Tribute Games | Release Date: TBD 2022
The entire Turtle squad, along with some help from April and Splinter, will work together to face off against the Foot Clan and other mutant bad guys.
Tribute Games/DotEmu Games
There have been many games based on the popular Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles series over the last three decades, but none has matched the impact of arcade beat-’em-ups. With the upcoming TMNT: Shredder’s Revenge, we’re getting a spiritual successor to the classic beat-’em-up games directly inspired by the 16-bit era.
Developed by Tribute Games and DotEmu, this throwback game looks stunning, and the gameplay offers that satisfying thrill of barreling through Foot Clan ninjas — something the classic games did so well. However, it also introduces some slick modern touches to the gameplay, giving you and your teammates some added skills and defense to help fight off Shredder’s minions. This was a real blast to play, and it proves just how great TMNT games can be.
Dolmen
Developer: Massive Work Studio | Release Date: May 20, 2022
As is the tradition with Souls-style games, you’ll likely be running